Sony online announced today that it is suspending billing for 13,000 players in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina. It is also making it so no player-owned structures will deteriorate while their owners are unable to longon to games hosted by SOE.

In addition, EverQuest II players can type "/donate" to open up a page that will let them give money to the Red Cross.

The exact announcement follows:

"Hurricane Katrina has left an incredible wake of destruction across the Mid-Atlantic States. Sony Online Entertainment would like to ask you to take a moment to make a donation to the American Red Cross in order to help alleviate some of the suffering.

In EverQuest II we have added the /donate command, type in /donate to be taken to the American Red Cross's Hurricane 2005 relief page. The American Red Cross will process your donation and make sure that it is put to maximum use to help those whose lives have been affected by the hurricane.

Additionally, for our 13,000+ players actually in the affected areas, we will be suspending billing until such time as they are able to play again. In addition, any items or structures in any of our games, which decay over time, will be preserved until the user's next login.